Shakespeare on the Double! Hamlet 1. Cushion Edition

By William Shakespeare

John Wiley & Sons

Copyright © 2006 William Shakespeare
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-470-04155-0

Introduction

Shakespeare on the Double! Hamlet 1. Cushion Edition provides the full text of the Bard's play side by side with an easy-to-read modern English translation that you can understand. You no longer have to wonder what exactly "To be or not to be" means! You can read the Shakespearean text on the left-hand pages and check the right-hand pages when Shakespeare's language stumps you. Or you can read only the translation, which enables you to understand the action and characters at an even pace. You can also read both, referring easily between the original text and the modern translation. Any way you choose, you can now understand every line of the Bard's masterpiece!

We've also provided you with some additional resources:

Brief synopsis of the plot and action provides a broad-strokes overview of the play.

Comprehensive character list covers the actions, motivations, and characteristics of each major player.

Visual character map displays who the major characters are and how they relate to each other.

Cycle-of-death pinpoints the sequence of deaths in the play, including who dies, how they die, and why they die.

Reflective questions help you delve even more into the themes and meanings of the play.

Reading Shakespeare can be slow and difficult. No more! With Shakespeare on the Double! Hamlet, you can read the play in language that you can grasp quickly and thoroughly.

Hamlet Synopsis

ACT I

Scene 1

Two months after a state funeral for King Hamlet at Elsinore Castle in Denmark, Prince Hamlet remains at home. Horatio, his fellow student at Wittenberg, investigates a late-night apparition reported two consecutive nights by the watch, Bernardo and Marcellus. Shortly before cock-crow, the spirit of King Hamlet returns decked out in the battle armor he wore during his war with Old Fortinbras of Norway. Horatio ponders the unrest of the former king's spirit.

Scene 2

Hamlet, dressed in funereal black, appears in the council hall in low spirits. His uncle Claudius, King Hamlet's successor, has married the old king's wife Gertrude. Hamlet chooses not to return to school. He suppresses his dismay at the widow's remarriage only one month after her husband's death. Horatio, Bernardo, and Marcellus inform Hamlet about the spirit's pacing on the battlements. Hamlet promises to join the trio that night to await the ghost's return.

Scene 3

Laertes, son of Polonius, the lord chamberlain, packs to attend school in Paris. Laertes warns his sister Ophelia to guard her reputation by avoiding Hamlet's courtship. Laertes suspects that Hamlet is merely toying with Ophelia. Polonius gives parental advice on a young man's behavior, then warns Ophelia about encouraging Hamlet's interest in her.

Scene 4

Around midnight, Hamlet joins Horatio and Marcellus on the castle battlements. The ghost appears. Hamlet recognizes the disturbed spirit and inquires about its return to earth. The ghost beckons Prince Hamlet to one side.

Scene 5

In private, the spirit of King Hamlet confides to his son the necessity of expiating sins in purgatory. The ghost tells Prince Hamlet how Claudius, the brother of King Hamlet, poured yew sap in his ear and killed him with his sins unforgiven. Claudius then seized the crown and married Gertrude, King Hamlet's widow. Prince Hamlet swears to avenge his father's murder. On his sword, Hamlet pledges Horatio and Marcellus to secrecy while the prince investigates the truth of the ghost's accusations.

* * *

ACT II Scene 1

Several weeks later, Polonius instructs Reynaldo on how to spy on Laertes and learn about his behavior in Paris. Ophelia reports to her father that Hamlet's behavior is bizarre. Polonius diagnoses Prince Hamlet's strangeness as love-sickness rather than insanity.

Scene 2

Claudius and Gertrude question Guildenstern and Rosencrantz about their schoolmate Hamlet's peculiarities. Polonius informs Claudius on the effrontery of young Fortinbras, whom the king of Norway scolds for raising an army. Set to attack Poland, young Fortinbras requests permission to march peacefully through Denmark on his way to war. Claudius grants the request. Polonius offers Hamlet's love letters as proof that the prince is love-sick. Claudius and Polonius plot to hide behind an arras to eavesdrop on Hamlet's conversation with Ophelia.

* * *

ACT III

Scene 1

Hamlet paces the foyer reading a book. Polonius speaks to him, but misunderstands the prince's nonsensical replies. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern try to diagnose their boyhood friend's mental illness. Hamlet realizes that Claudius has enlisted his schoolmates to spy on him. The prince confuses the men with daft oratory. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern report that Hamlet's favorite acting troupe is approaching Elsinore castle.

Scene 2

Hamlet welcomes the players and asks for a recitation of his favorite passage about Pyrrhus's slaughter of King Priam during the Trojan War. Hamlet assigns Polonius to aid the troupe while they set up their evening performance. To the company's manager, Hamlet requests a performance of The Murder of Gonzago. In solitude, Hamlet reveals his doubts that the ghost on the battlements was really his father. He suspects that a demon misleads him. To substantiate King Hamlet's charges against Claudius, Prince Hamlet plans to observe Claudius's reaction to the dramatization of his crime against his brother.

Claudius questions Rosencrantz and Guildenstern about the prince's insanity. The king and Polonius lurk behind a curtain to spy on Hamlet's wooing of Ophelia. Hamlet ponders suicide as the best solution to his dilemma. When Ophelia enters, the prince charges her with immodesty. After Hamlet departs, Claudius fears that he can't allow an insane prince to endanger others. Claudius decides to send Hamlet on an embassy to the king of England to collect a tax owed to Denmark. Polonius urges Gertrude to question her son about his mental unrest.

The next night, the acting troupe discusses with Hamlet the correct delivery of dramatic lines. After the players depart for the stage, Hamlet assigns Horatio to watch Claudius for proof that he is guilty of poisoning King Hamlet. The court assembles for the play, which Hamlet calls "The Mousetrap." He plops his head in Ophelia's lap and pretends to summarize the play while complaining of the court's disrespect for King Hamlet.

The players perform a pantomime of Baptista's loving relationship with King Gonzago. After a nephew poisons Gonzago, Baptista allows the killer to console her. Immediately after Gonzago's corpse is carried away, the murderer seduces Baptista. Claudius asks Hamlet if the rest of the play is offensive. Hamlet assures him that anyone with a clear conscience has no reason to object to the story. Nonetheless, Claudius is so guilt-ridden that he rushes out. The play comes to an abrupt end as the court follows him.

Hamlet confers with Horatio and exults that Claudius displayed guilt by bolting from the play. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern carry a summons from Gertrude to her son....